Making Inclusion Happen Through Mentoring

In 2017, Palantir.net and Digital Bridge Solutions teamed up to start a small inclusion initiative with the hopes of increasing diversity in the Drupal community. This initiative was designed to invite and expose underrepresented people (whether they be underrepresented due to race, gender, economic status or other) to the Drupal community and opportunities therein. Due to a number of generous donations of tickets, time, and meeting rooms, we were able to host five students from NPower Baltimore to come to DrupalCon Baltimore for one day and get a quick introduction to Drupal. Activities included a 4 hour training, a talk outlining Drupal security topics, a networking lunch with Drupal shop executives and seasoned community members, and a meet and greet with a college graduate who recently joined ForumOne.

In 2018, Palantir expanded the original day-long format of this initiative to a 5-month training and mentorship program. With the assistance of FigLeaf Software (for 1:1 training), Drupalize.me (for supplemental help), and 11 mentors from across the Drupal community, Palantir is working with 11 enthusiastic students ages 18-24 (five from NPower Baltimore and six from Genesys Works in Chicago). Beginning with a kick off in both cities, both groups connected virtually from their respective city. Students participate in the program from January through May. All students will meet in person at both MidCamp and DrupalCon Nashville.    

As this is the first year we are doing this, this initiative is in a pilot stage. We’d love to show what is involved in actively bringing in people who have not had exposure to Drupal and share the lessons we’ve learned along the way. This session will cover the following:

• Strategic partnerships: How to cultivate relationships with local non-profits and community organization
• Recruitment strategy: Tapping into existing programs and pre-vetted participant pools
• Implementation: What it takes, how to resource or pay for this initiative and associated challenges  
• Student showcase: Student anecdotes and work completed to date
• Measuring success: How to develop and measure learning outcomes
• More doing: Ideas for making the Drupal Community more inclusive and reflective of the audiences that Drupal serves

We hope this initiative will encourage other Drupal firms to be able to start similar projects in their cities/regions. How can you build your own program? Or rethink your recruiting strategy?

This session is not technical, and is great for anyone who is interested in finding solutions to increasing diversity in the Drupal community.